PANJIM: The Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM) has declared former RSS (Goa) Chief Subhash Velingkar as its President minutes after he officially joined the regional political party on Sunday. The development comes a week after he was relieved as Sanchalak of the apolitical outfit Bharat Mata Ki Jai to join active politics.
Velingkar has been monitoring GSM since the year 2016 when it was formed in the run up for Goa Legislative Assembly polls held in the year 2017. The party was formed after Velingkar developed differences with BJP over the issue of Medium of Instruction in Elementary Education, and his induction will now see him contest the upcoming polls although the party has not decided the constituency.
Addressing the workers after being inducted in the party and also declared as its Chief at Porvorim, Velingkar said that the party will form its government in Goa in next five years.
“Considering the political situation in Goa, the mid-term polls are imminent in the State. Mostly the elections for Goa Assembly would be held along with Parliamentary polls. The upcoming Assembly polls would be semi-final for GSM. We will have our own chief minister after five years. Not upcoming assembly election but the election after that we are sure to have our government in the State,” he told a gathering of party workers and office bearers.
“We need to trust the people. They might be tried to be wooed with the money and donations but they will act wisely when it comes to election,” he added.
He said that the BJP was brought to power in Goa after Congress failed to govern and instead plundered the State, but BJP also walked the same path and thus there is a requirement and sense of urgency to replace BJP.
“The people of Goa are already suffering due to the failure of BJP to govern and stubborn behaviour of ailing Manohar Parrikar to continue on the chair of the Chief Minister. For so many months, government is not functioning. They are pretending as if Parrikar’s health is well until Health Minister Vishwajit Rane declared that Parrikar is suffering from pancreatic cancer, his medical condition was not even formally announced,” he said.
“No one should face this kind of medical condition. Even the enemy should not face it. But, in case of Parrikar, he is answerable to the people. He has to understand that he is taking people for granted,” Velingkar added.
He further lamented that the State is in doldrums and people are suffering. “Parrikar was responsible for closure of mining industry. We don’t support illegal mining but legal mining should have been allowed; 3.5 lakh people are dependent on mining for their livelihood. The belt like Sanguem and Sankhalim in Goa has 80 per cent people dependent on this business,” he said.
Slamming the successive governments for failing to eradicate the State from casinos menace, Velingkar alleged that casino has the power to purchase all the politicians. “No politician is talking against casino. They are accepting bribes from casinos to support them,” he said asserting that GSM will fight election based on its ideology.
“If we deviate from our ideology, the people have right to reject us,” he added.
Citing the ongoing crisis within the government which evolved after Parrikar’s illness, Velingkar commented that coalition partners which had claimed that they are with the government with common intention have now started showing their real colours. They are publicly demanding that the power should be distributed to them, he said.
GSM is now gearing up to plan strategy for contesting the upcoming polls and Velingkar, who is still not certain from which constituency would he contest, said the party has given him a major responsibility and he will not disappoint the “People have put their faith in me. I will never put them down. We will work with the cadre of the party and will not hire people. The people with nationalistic mentality will represent the party,” he said.
Velingkar, during the earlier meeting, had said that the parties like MGP had betrayed the people on the issues like Medium of Instruction and eradicating casinos from Goa. He said that GSM will expose the double standards of all the political parties.
“We will not support anything that is not in the interest of the people. We will address every issue troubling the people of Goa,” he was quoted as saying.
